Job Abstract

In an increasingly complex and interconnected world, Asia plays a crucial global role. Would you be excited at the prospect of employing your knowledge and skills to improve lives, expand opportunities, and help societies flourish across this dynamic region?

You could have this opportunity at The Asia Foundation, a nonprofit international development organization committed to improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia. Informed by six decades of experience and deep local expertise, our work across the region addresses five overarching goals—strengthen governance, empower women, expand economic opportunity, increase environmental resilience, and promote regional cooperation.

The Asia Foundation’s Regional Governance Team operates across the Foundation’s governance strategy and programming portfolio across its 19 country offices. With the senior director based in Hanoi and several other team members in Asia and Australia, the team works remotely to support program design and implementation of governance programs to support and promote the Foundation as a thought leader in the key sectoral areas in which it operates, to build skills and capabilities of Foundation staff and partner organizations, to help country office staff keep abreast of the latest thinking in international development, and to connect the Foundation into relevant regional and international dialogue and fora.

Governance is a broad topic, and, as such, the team’s policy, program, and research efforts are also necessarily varied and expansive. Subtopics and areas of interest include political economy approaches to development, democracy and democratization, inclusion and inequality, decentralization and local governance, judicial and legal sector reform, urban governance, social media and mis- and disinformation, technology and governance, civil society, and civic spaces. They stretch from local case studies of a city, community, or individual organization to national-level thematic or sectoral analyses to subregional and regional assessments.

Summary of responsibilities

The team is seeking a new Senior Program Officer (SPO) to contribute to managing the increasing variety and complexity of the larger and smaller ongoing projects and new initiatives. More specifically, the SPO will support the Governance team with the management of budgets, training, research activities and consultants.

• The day-to-day management of specific projects implemented in Asia by the Foundation, including field supervision and donor reporting;
• Liaison and coordination with country offices, US-based teams, and partners in Asia and elsewhere;
• Operational coordination of cross-regional activities such as workshops, seminars, and knowledge exchange events;
• Managing communications and outreach;
• Contribution to the team’s strategic planning and team-building activities.

• 7 years + of professional experience in international development assistance programs, or relevant policy or academic experience, focused on governance, public policy or relevant sectoral issues in the Asia region.
• Relevant postgraduate qualification: governance, political economy, public policy, social science research methods, or other field.
• Experience of managing development or related initiatives in Asia.
• Proven ability to support the communication of analytic products and an understanding of practical, on-the-ground program
• Experience working in multi-disciplinary teams and remote teams.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, and proven interpersonal and intercultural skills and sensitivity, including experience of managing or facilitating multi-agency meetings and approaches.
• Sufficient contextual knowledge to rapidly develop a politically astute understanding of governance in South and Southeast Asia.

At a critical moment in history, you will have the opportunity to contribute to the development, stability, and growth of the Asia region. You will help promote a more constructive engagement between government and citizens and advance learning and awareness about The Asia Foundation. You will work with and learn from dedicated, smart, accomplished colleagues and local partners, improving your skills and expertise.

How to Apply:

Applications should be submitted by visiting our website. To be considered, please upload your cover letter and resume/CV in one document. You can also upload both in separate documents, but please note that to do so, you will have to sign out of the system and go back into your record for additional documents. The deadline to Apply is July 7, 2024.

This position is open to Internal and external applicants.

Applicants must be legally eligible to work in either Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, or India without sponsorship from The Asia Foundation.